Sunday, February 27, 2011

It has been a different kind of week at my house, we are trying to settle into what is going to be our new normal, with a couple of hiccups along the way.

But what you care about is what I actually have pictures of!

Presenting, in very bad detail, St Margaret's Cardigan by Jeri Rigged Designs.See the pockets? They make me smile so much.

Back view :I used a slightly lighter wool for this than the pattern called for, and then accidentally over=blocked it just a touch so right now she is a little floppy! If I could bare to take her off maybe I would fix that. :)I did put ribbing at the cuffs and bottom edge, the pattern has an option for a beautiful cable detailed edging, but I was really worried about running out of yarn.

Since I started this one the designer has made some improvements to the pattern, which of course gives me the option of.....You guessed it! Knitting her again.

You did know that was going to happen, right?

In other knitting news, with the addition of some new charts to Metamorphosis, there might be another project on my needles.

This shot shows off the long color repeats in a very inexpensive, mohair yarn that I might have picked up recently.You can see the beautiful fluff more in the ball than in my wet knitting.

Monday, February 21, 2011

When last seen this knitter was promising details of the last finished object, and here she is with another!

But, technically they are the same pattern so here goes!

Metamorphosis Raglan PulloverYarn: BB Toes in Maine BlueberryNeedles : size 4 USMods....this pattern is very much a choose your own adventure, I chose Chart B for the yoke, Chart C for waist shaping and Chart E for the edging. As TDQ is short and skinny I dropped a couple of repeats of Chart B to get the length she wanted and it fits her perfectly!I love how the lace shows all over when she wears it!

And...

Metamorphosis Raglan CardiganYarn: Knit Picks Shadow held doubleNeedles : Size 4 USMods....I also am a little on the height challenged side so I dropped one repeat in length and also added decreases partway down the sleeve rather than just letting the lace provide shaping so that the cuffs would bell and finished the whole thing off with Chart D for edging.

This one is too big for TDQ to model, if I can get home early enough one day this week we shall see if I can get better pictures!Now to work on Madame for a moment before casting on for another one of these!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

I read that what feels like forever ago, and passed that story on to friends who needed to hear it.

This week has not been a good one.

So far I have dropped the work ball...luckily there was a dependable person standing behind me who caught it before it even needed to bounce, so now he is juggling 6! I don't even want to ask how long that can keep going before something else drops.

As far as I can see I will have to drop at least one, probably two more balls before the next few days are through...

Saturday, February 5, 2011

It is snowing again here today. We started with hail like stuff, so under the fluffy white snow it is like walking or driving on ball bearings. Now that I am home from work I think that I am going to park myself in my comfy chair and just knit and let the weather do whatever it is that the weather wants to do! (Obviously my putting in an order for 72 degrees, blue skies and sunshine just isn't working!)

I have been working on a couple of things in the evening this week.

First up is my shawl for Metamorphosis.That is a cotton blend yarn from ColourMart and size 5 needles.

The gaping holes will have pocket linings, maybe even this evening! I am going to try and get the rest of that sleeve done and the linings, or maybe the other sleeve, we shall see. I am still concerned about how much yarn those beautiful cables eat up. Right now I am leaning toward ribbing for the edges rather than a fancy braided cable cast off, just to save on yarn.

With all the dreary weather I did have one delivery that brightened my day.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

It has been sheer craziness here at Chez YarnDiet. First, there was an ice storm overnight between Monday and Tuesday. School was closed and the local roads were treacherous. The kids and I ended up stuck at home and I spent the day trying to get ice off the driveway and keep fidgety stitches on my needles.

As of this morning 20,000 homes locally are still without power. We were very lucky, only a short power out, but then no internet or cable.

Makes me glad I didn't go for the Voice over Internet phone system the cable television company was trying desperately to sell me this summer or we would have had no phones too! But at least the wind only knocked out power lines and downed trees and didn't knock down houses.

It is amazing how quickly we become used to things like internet access. I was lost last evening trying to decide what to do while I knit away on other projects. The radio wasn't playing what I wanted to listen to and waiting for weather reports and school closure updates to be broadcast on "their terms" was annoying me! There was a whole group of people knitting the same things I am, and I couldn't chit chat with them or look at their pictures of in progress work....and I grew up without computers and the world wide web in my home.

School went back today, and the internet is back to its usual self. There is even a television that has a complete screen sitting in my living room as I broke down and bought one. It is off, and I am catching up on group knitting, on my computer.

Maybe I shouldn't even have bothered buying it, I checked, there is nothing worth watching on!